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The PUEBLO Action Fund commemorated ten years of grassroots organization and political action at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center on Sunday evening, May 2, during its annual dinner.

The PUEBLO Action Fund is a nonprofit organization 501(C) 4, which means that it can engage in political lobbying and funding. One of its primary thrusts has been to help elect candidates that support progressive issues, particularly those affecting low-income residents of Santa Barbara, notably immigrant workers. PUEBLO is an acronym for People United for Economic Justice Building Leadership Through Organizing.

“The dinner is to gather supporters and recapitulate successes and failures,” said Felipe Rodriguez-Flores, co-chair of the Pueblo Action Fund’s board of directors. It was also a fundraising event: The Cabrillo Arts Center was furnished with an auction table, as well as a buffet and a bar, in order to accommodate contributors. PUEBLO also requested donations from members, ranging from $25 to $500, in order to help PUEBLO stay active in the community and have longevity.

Several speakers focused on PUEBLO’s importance in the Santa Barbara community, and all called for immigration reform. The keynote speaker was Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). “The story of America is about a nation of immigrants,” Salas said. “But the story of America is also about the exclusion of immigrants.”

Salas recalled PUEBLO’s march on Capitol Hill with other grassroots organizations, sharing her memory of a young girl who addressed the C-SPAN cameras saying, “This is not right, being without my mother.” According to Salas, one hour after the young girl said that, Salas received a call from the White House and had a personal meeting with President Barack Obama on the subject of immigration reform.

“What I told President Obama is that what I know is, that it’s a right for a child to have her mother,” Salas said.

PUEBLO also gave Dolores Huerta Civic Leadership Awards to Esther Aguilera and Das Williams for their honorary contributions to the organization. Aguilera is currently Third District County Supervisor Doreen Farr’s district representative. Williams is a Santa Barbara City councilmember and a candidate for California State Assembly.

PUEBLO’s next event will be at Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church on May 15, for a Community Values Forum. The event will discuss making immigration a federal issue, which organizers hope will make undocumented and vulnerable immigrants safer.

Comments

It's so simple. I know what I am going to say is not PC and will likely be deleted from this forum for not fitting in with the politics of this publication, but I am going to say it anyway. I know SOMEONE will read it, and I'll save it anyway, as I do all my comments here, so it won't be lost to the censor's eraser.

Almost anyone is welcome here, if they aren't a lawbreaker. We have always had an open door policy; I know, I am a second generation American myself, whose grandparents came here, learned English, assimilated and added their dash of flavor to the American landscape.

That's "added to" not "dominated".

I grew up hearing all about their American dream and how hard these courageous people sacrificed to help make it happen for themselves and their descendants. I was told all the time how lucky I was to be born here and not where they were from.

They knew when they came here that they would never see their homeland or loved ones again, and I cannot IMAGINE how hard that had to be for them. Their language was nothing even remotely like English, yet they studied hard and learned.

Please DO come here. Knock on the door and wait for an answer, then come on in and join us. Please don't make a mess, break things, or commit violence.

Don't complain about the accommodations and then demand that everything be served up to you "your way". This isn't Burger King; this is our..and if you play by the rules...your, home. Treat it with respect.

Most importantly, don't just break a window and let yourself in, then gripe and shout at us if we throw you out.

And by the way...sneaking into the closet to have your baby doesn't give you a free pass either. If you are worried about your family being affected by your decision to break into our house, then perhaps not doing that might be a wise decision. Perhaps coming up to the front door and knocking properly might be the way to go.

Just sayin'.

This is how I run my house. I don't see the country as much different. Why is this stuff so hard to grasp? I KNOW that most of us learned this when we were children

I know if I go to someone else's house or country, I knock first, wait to be let in, then behave myself, play by the rules, and do all I can to fit in while bringing whatever positive contributions I can bring to contribute to the pot. That's what my mother taught me..and it makes sense in so many things in life, really.

We keep hollering and fighting with each other when it just isn't necessary. This is not rocket science, but we have to remove the emotional blackmail from the discussion first, and remember what we were told as children; how to behave towards others and their homes.

Like that old poster back in the 70's said: "Everything I really needed to know about getting along in life, I learned in Kindergarten"